It's been a while, but here goes...

I'm looking to get another few years (5) and many more miles (300+) out of my brick. It runs better than when I bought it with 163k - I can cruse at 85+ no problem and get 25MPG on a good day. I'll attribute that to a lot of work, your help,and a few bottles of redline.

It's just starting to show some rust, nothing major yet, but enough to make me worry. I'm thinking of doing all the prep work myself - sanding, POR-ing, etc, and taking it to Maaco to get a fresh coat of paint. Provided I do all the prep work decently and clean the car before I take it in, is there any reason to avoid one of the "budget" paint jobs there? I'd either go for the same color, sky blue, or something darker, like forest green or chocolate brown. Any thoughts are appreciated.



1989 245 Auto, 230k... the vehicle of -choice- on a recent 3,000 mile trip to PEI.
Mom just bought a 92 244 Auto w/148k. It really does run in families.
--
"I was unfashionable before anybody knew who I was." - Paul Desmond

Hi. About 6 weeks I finally gave up my 1972 142E (after 31 years!), and replaced it with a 1980 242, which I purchased from my Volvo mechanic. The new old Volvo needed a paint job, and my mechanic recommended a friend of his. Turns out the friend runs an Earl Scheib shop. I got the Scheib "Pro 3" job for $465, including painting of door jambs (but not the inside the trunk lid, under the hood. or other interior places). Got a color change, too -- went from a dull dark red to Schieb's "Sapphire Metallic Blue" (I think that's what it's called). It's a medium-dark blue with a moderate metallic quality to it. I am pleased with the job done by my mechanic's friend's shop -- the car looks great. And the Schieb "Pro 3" job has a 6 year warrenty. Ted

Damn, I remember when you could go to Earl's and get a paint job for $29.95. Is inflation that bad or am I getting THAT old? ;-)

Justin B.

Yeah, they used to be really cheap! Now Scheib's least expensive is it's "Pro 1" at $199.95. The "Pro 3", which I got, includes things like better prep, 3 coats of paint (one of which is a "base coat"), infrared drying, 6-yr warranty, and so on. I also got a UV coat, and I paid a little extra for the door jambs.

>> Is inflation that bad or am I getting THAT old? ;-) <<

Both?

Ted

A $300 paint job, is a $300 paint job. You've heard the (good) instructions on prepping. The stuff that comes out of the nearest Maaco shop, is really nice. And I know some vehicles that have been wearing that paint for a long time, so it lasts also. But like any franchise shop, it can be hit or miss.

To get a perfect paint job would cost $2000-$3000. Maaco's jobs can be very decent, so you save a lot of money. But you have to realize that there may be imperfections, an occasional sag, or something like that, that affect the overall quality. Still, for the price (and using a good Maaco shop) it is a decent deal.
--
Chris Herbst, near Chicago.

Prep is everything and not all Maacos are created equal.So look around and ask to see some cars that were completely painted.Thenyou be the judge.Ask around and ask a lot of questions.My dad prepped his 1975 Big Buick Lasabre himself and had a Maaco shop in Florida paint the car.Not only did the paint match perfectly,it was smooth as silk.Seven years later it still shines!Go figure.Good luck. One note,once you think you have a smooth perfect surface,prime it grey,them shoot a darker color,black,not to thick a coat and sand it again.Low spots will show up as black spots and high spots will be grey.It needs to be even.Block sand in an X pattern.There is more to it but take your time.Maybe buy a book or video.
Nelson

a buddy had his S10 work truck done at maaco recently. they charged extra because it was a truck (s10 single cab shortbed) and because he changed the color. it looks simply horrible. i doubt it will hold up for more than one winter. if you value the car spend a few bucks. i wouldn't change the color either. way too much work to do correctly.

I don't know much about paint, but I suppose that general cautiousness is a good idea. You know.. talk to the people, see if you can talk to the person who will likely be doing your car, check out their other work, their working conditions, what kind of reaction they make when you say you have a Volvo, etc. All of that's important. Maybe even talk to your local community college and see if they can recommend a shop (the auto tech instructors here are very highly regarded by some of my aquaintences whose judgement I'd trust with these things). One thing that did surprise me a bit was seeing someone mention (either on the board or the brickslist) that it looked like the painter started out doing a great job, but because the highly-regarded-independant-small-british-roadster-loving guy wasn't used to a car as large as a Volvo (and yeah, those wagons have a whole lot of surface area), he got tired and ended up doing a fairly sloppy job for the rest.

To do a good paint job will take quite a bit of labor, however the materials cost will probably be about the same no matter where you go. Assuming about the same labor rate, the more expensive jobs will allow for more time spent on your car which would allow for more attention to detail. The more work you can do yourself (i.e. masking, removing trim, etc) the lower your cost would be.

That said.. a good friend of mine bought McDuck's repainted wagon. It looks very nice. Of course, it probably helps to have a non metallic color to begin with.

- alex

'85 244 Turbo
'84 245 Turbo

This question comes up once in a while and usually draws a lot of responses. As many others have pointed out, prep is EVERYTHING. Fix the rust, sand and use spottng putty on stone chips. Remove everything you can. I pull off bumpers, trim, antenna, etc. You get the idea. Repaint the original color. Do some masking under the hood since some paint will blow in there. If you can find an old set of wheels/tires put them on. Check out the franchise for reputation. The MAACO near me in Bethlehem, PA does a very nice job. The one I used in Connecticut many years ago did a poor job. I have had 6 cars of various makes painted by the same shop and the closer I followed my own rules, the better it looked.

Skip
'93 850GLT
'83 242TI Flathood

Had my mother-in laws Beretta done by Macco a couple of years ago. It was painted the same color and I believe we paid extra for more sanding and prep work on the car. The end result was CRAP!!! It looked like they had taken a case of spray cans to the car. Shit, I could of done that myself. When we got the car back there was dirt in the new paint. Seems they let the car dry outside uncovered and the wind blew dirt right on to the car. Had them re-paint it again but all they did was paint over the dirt. Now after a few years the clear coat has faded to a haze and the car looks even worse than it did before I took it to Macco. If you are on a Macco kind of budget, then I suggest you do it yourself. Might be more time consuming but I believe you would do a much better job on the prep-work and you would only have yourself to blame for the results or your self to buy a beer for because of the great job you have done. Good Luck!

Nickvjr
1979 264GL 119,900

Paint is paint.

Your rite with the prep work, the better the body work/preping/masking, the better the paint will look.

The econo style paint jobs are cheep, because thats all it is, a paint job.
No body work and sadly done masking.

For a better looking paint job, I would sugest masking the trim parts your self (window trim,moldings,bumpers)and let MACCO do the over all masking.

I see a lot of cars with the "econo paint job" and the masking lines are sloppy and a ridge forms from the masking tape/paint. The better you mask it the better the job will look.

MACCO, has good paint and the job depends on the sprayer.
I would look at work sitting around the shop (looking for orange peel/dirty looking paint and how clear)). Not the body work but the paint. how does it look on cars, inside there shop.
I would also, ask to meet the sprayer and see the type person and his qualities. AFTER ALL, IT'S A VOLVO! GOOD LUCK.
--
Kevin * HONDA spanking,1985 240DL * VOLVO ON!!!!

I've never used Maaco but I'd guess that some of their shops are better than others. I once had a light blue car which I had painted black. Big mistake! Every little stone chip and ding showed the underlying light blue against the black. Look bad after a few years. I think it's better to stick with the original color, all the door edges will still match better.

I suppose I would combine most of these comments into a suggestion, here is my take on it.

A paint job is 90%+ prep, and the rest actual painting. IF you do ALL of the prepwork (i.e. removing trim, lights, bumpers, carefully masking everything that can't be easily removed or will leave the car un-driveable) then the cheapo chain paint shops will turn you out a decent looking job.

Prep includes a good scrubbing with a harsh detergent, followed by a wipedown of a cleaning solvent like DuPont Prep-Sol, and wet block sanding EVERY square inch with probably 360 grit. If all you have is surface rust then sand these spots to bare shiny metal, treat with DuPont Metal Conditioner, prime with automotive grade primer and block with the 360. I would not use POR-15 on visible surface rust as it's easier to just sand the surface rust off and there are special procedures to prepare POR-15 for topcoating. After all of this is done give it another good scrubbing with the harsh detergent.

Also, if you plan on a color change that would be considerably more money if done right as inside of trunklid, door jambs, inside of doors, etc., must also be prepped and painted or it looks like crap. On a budget you need to stick to the same color you have.

If a reputable body shop will paint the car for you for a price in the ballpark of what Maaco would charge then go for it. Often, though, good body shops will not do this (unless they know you and trust your prep skills) as the appearance and lifespan of the paint job is directly proportional to the quality of the prepwork. If the body shop has no control over the prep, and your paint job looks like crap (or starts peeling 6 months down the road) then it makes them look bad.

Good luck,

Justin B.
83 Turbo

Good post Justin, thanks. I'm getting ready to start the prep work on the 242t repaint, this info will come in handy.
--
don hodgdon '89 744ti, '81 242t, '71 D-35

If you have any other questions just post. I've only painted six or seven cars but I've made enough mistakes to have learned quite a bit! ;-) One of the other posters hit it on the head when he said to spot putty in any stone ships. A good rule of thumb is if you can barely see or feel something during prep your are REALLY going to see it after it get's shiny. And the darker the color the better your prep better be. You can get away with being a little sloppy on a light colored car...

Justin

You would be better of buying a bunch of spray cans of quality primer than taking it to maaco.

Someone kissed my 240 2 years ago, tiny dent in hood and a headlight busted. I did the preparation work myself at an auto hobby shop on a military base (yes they have a fully outfitted body shop with tools and spray booth)and a friend sprayed it for me. The preparation is the most labor intensive, time consuming, expensive, and the part that has the most effect on the outcome of the actual paint spraying.

We used enamel, same as original, matched the color and went for it. Turned out great. But there is still lots of work to be done AFTER spraying.

All in all, I would do what others recommended, make arrangements with a local reputable body shop, do the prep and post spray rub out yourself, and work out a price for spraying with enamel.

good luck

Had the 'ol 245 painted at Maaco last year. Good job.
Color match is excellent, no overspray.
I did prep and removed trim, bumpers, and lights.
Maaco shops are franchised, so YMMV.

Avoid at all costs...you get what you pay for. If you are willing to do trim removal, some basic prep, etc. a reputable shop should give you a decent price break, as this is labor intensive and doesn't contribute at all towards the actual painting of the car. Once I get to that point, that is what I intend to do.

Good Luck,
Jeff

I've heard horror stories about the Maaco deal...paint overspray onto windows, trim, lousy prep-work and paying attention to detail and even color-matching issues...
-Adam
--
'92 244GL silver-metallic, 144k, Stock B230F, Hella 550 Front Fogs, K&N filter w/modded box, Bilstein HDs w/upper strut plates, IPD sways, upper and lower chassis braces, Cherry-Turbo strut-to-strut brace, Volvo 240 OEM rear wing/spoiler, 15" Turbo Draco Rims, Full E-code lighting w/side repeaters, custom Magnaflow 2.5" SS system with Unitek 3-series header (Jet-Hot coated), waiting to install Enem/Unitek V15 cam.

I had a MAACO paint job done on my 89 240 approx 18 months ago and am very very pleased.